Rahul Gandhi's Wayanad LS seat vacant, but for how long?

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Wayanad seat from Kerala has remained vacant post his disqualification as Lok Sabha MP in March 2023. Gandhi was disqualified following his conviction by a lower court in the 2019 'Modi surname' defamation case. Gandhi had moved Gujarat High Court seeking a stay on his conviction, however, on Friday, the plea was dismissed by the court.

On the back of the judgment, Gandhi has also been barred from running for election for six years after the end of the two-year jail term. While the disqualified MP's chances of reinstatement as a member of the Lok Sabha now depends entirely on whether the Supreme Court conviction, nothing holds back the Election Commission from announcing a bypoll to the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat vacated by him even now. The vacant seats must be filled by the EC through bypolls within six months from the date of occurrence of the vacancy, provided that the remainder of the term of a member in relation to a vacancy is one year or more, as per Section 151A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

The EC has been prompt in conducting elections in such cases in the past. The EC had announced bypolls to fill up vacancies created by disqualification of Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal, SP leader Azam Khan and his son Abdullah Azam Khan in just a couple of days. In January 2023, CEC Rajiv Kumar had declared a bypoll for the Lakshadweep LS seat just a couple of days after Faizal's disqualification upon conviction in an attempt-to-murder case.